I'm a newbie to home projection who just invested in an Epson 2150 (about what my budget/savings could handle) and I'm working on building up a setup to project from.

I know that a ceiling mount is supposed to be the proper way to do it, but I am not sure about the weight hold of the ceiling I am looking to set it up in. I was looking into the option of projection stands, but am uncertain about the stability or reliability of such things.

I have seen a couple varieties or projector stands, but nothing seems very stable. I was looking at one tripod-based model offered on Amazon made by Pyle (the site isn't allowing me to link directly, but Pyle seems to be the main brand for these), but I hesitate on the sturdiness of the tripod and the reliability of the plastic tray that comes with it. Another has some unsettling pictures showing poor welding and build problems (with one even praising it even though they admit they had to send the first back!).

I figure if I can find a nice stand, it would be one I could use outside during the warmer seasons. But I would love any advice offered, if anyone can help with this!

tell us more about your ceiling. If it can't hold an 8 lb projector how is it holding itself up?

It's not the weight so much as the bolts. It's a pretty lightweight material, and I don't know if the screws would hold very well without slipping out. I'm trying to look into what might bolt in properly to hold something before I consider that option; I can't imagine those plastic drywall anchors would help too much with the weight.

What is holding up the light weight material? you hang it off of that. You bolt through the lightweight material into the underlying structure. If you could be more descriptive of your ceiling construction or post a picture I could be more helpful.